Wide Variation Found in Tuition Rates of Public Colleges

In order to balance the books of their public systems of higher
education, some states must charge far more tuition than others,
suggests a new study of the financial underpinnings of state colleges
and universities.

Conducted for the National Institute of Education, the study
analyzes the relationships between taxation, population, enrollment,
and tuition levels in each state to suggest how they compare in terms
of funding and tuition per student, among other measures.

Tuition charges per student at public colleges in Vermont, for
ex-ample, represent the highest in the nation, according to the study.
The public institutions there took in $3,420 per student in tuition
this academic year--more than six times the $515 and $519 in tuition
per student averaged by similar institutions in California and
Connecticut, respectively, the study indicates.

The study, "How States Compare in Financial Support of Public Higher
Education, 1983-84," was conducted for the nie by the higher-education
researcher Kent Halstead.

It is one of a series of reports designed, the researcher writes, to
provide governors, state legislators, and citizens with comparative
data on school and college finances to help them assess the "adequacy
of tax rates and program funding."

Tuition Revenues

States with low appropriations to colleges--such as New Hampshire
($1,925 per student this year), Vermont ($2,450 per student), South
Dakota ($2,486 per student), and Ohio ($3,063 per student)--rely
heavily on tuition revenues to operate their public colleges, Mr.
Halstead says. By contrast, Hawaii, which this year provided
appropriations of $5,190 per student, this year charged an average of
$600 per student in tuition.

This wide variation, according to Mr. Halstead, reflects in part the
fact that some public colleges and universities enroll many
out-of-state students, who pay higher tuition. Comparisons between the
level of public-college enrollments and the number of in-state
high-school graduates indicate that "both residents and non-residents
are attracted to attend public institutions in such states as Arizona,
California, Wyoming, Kansas, Oregon, and Colorado," he writes.

Public colleges in Arizona this year enrolled more than four times
the number of people who graduated from the state's high schools last
spring, but the enrollments at public institutions in Maine and
Pennsylvania this year total less than double the number of in-state
high-school graduates last spring, according to the analysis.

Funding Needs Vary

The study found that states with higher-education systems that
emphasize graduate education, public service, and research--such as
Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, and Utah--"require funding up to
20 percent more per student than the national average, and up to 40
percent more" than systems that emphasize undergraduate and two-year
training.

By contrast, California and Nevada, which have a large proportion of
students enrolled in two-year colleges, are "funded acceptably with
appropriations 15 percent below the national average," the study
says.

Seven Richest Localities

The seven localities richest in tax revenues (excluding Hawaii)
operate the "least expensive" public higher-education systems, Mr.
Halstead notes, because they emphasize attendance at four-year and
two-year colleges. These include Alaska, California, the District of
Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Wyoming.

According to the study, "states and their residents are the primary
supporting agencies for public higher education." About 70 percent of
the schools' operating funds (excluding government grants and
contracts) came from state and local government appropriations, while
tuition revenues provided another 18 percent of funds for public
colleges.

Among other findings:

Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Iowa have the highest
percentage of high-school graduates per thousand residents, while
Florida, the District of Columbia, Arizona, California, and Nevada have
the lowest. Minnesota, with 16 graduates per thousand residents, last
spring had 65 percent more graduates than the lowest-ranking state,
Florida, with 9.7 graduates.

North Dakota has the highest full-time-equivalent college enrollment
per 1,000 citizens. Arizona, California, and Wisconsin also have large
public systems relative to their populations. Maine and Pennsylvania
have the lowest college-enrollment rate per 1,000 citizens.

The share of tax revenues appropriated for public higher education
varies from a high of 17.6 percent in Mississippi to a low of 5.2
percent in New Hampshire.

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